A Walk On The Other Side
by GuardianSoulBlade
Summary: Ken Ichijouji is sucked up into the Tamers’ universe by a data stream from their Digital World. How is he supposed to get home, and why was he sent there? Ken meets Henry Wong and remembers a key figure in his past…Ryo Akiyama.
1. Chapter One: Memory of a Friend

**A Walk on the Other Side**

_Ken Ichijouji is sucked up into the Tamers' universe by a data stream from their Digital World. How is he supposed to get home, and why was he sent there? Ken meets Henry Wong and remembers a key figure in his past…Ryo Akiyama._

**Chapter One: Memory of a Friend**

Ken Ichijouji was sitting in front of his computer thinking about his past. There were so many gaps in his memory, so many pieces missing, but he remembered he had known a boy who he had met in the Digital World. He had disappeared and never returned from the Digital World after he had battled MoonMillenniummon. Everyone around him told him that it was useless to keep searching for his friend, but Ken never gave up hope that he might find him.

That boy was Ryo Akiyama, and Ken never forgot their friendship. They had fought many long, hard battles together, and after all that had happened Ryo had suddenly vanished inside the Digital World, never to be seen by anyone again.

"I'll find him one day," Ken said to himself. "No matter what anyone says, he's not dead. I know it, I can't figure out how but he's not dead."

"But if Ryo's not dead, then where is he, Ken?" Wormmon asked, poking his head up from his spot on Ken's bed.

"I'm not sure, but if he died in the Digital World, one of the Digimon would have seen it or heard something about him being eaten."

"That's very true Ken, and we haven't heard anything since he disappeared when you were ten."

"It's been three years, who'd believe it? My life is so different now, I have friends and the Digital World is safe from MaloMyotismon. Still…it's always bugged me that the first friend I ever had just disappeared into thin air."

"What are we going to do Ken?" Wormmon asked.

"I think I should go back into the Digital World and start searching again. Surely_ someone _in the Digital World has seen them. I'll let my parents know first."

Ken Ichijouji walked into the kitchen where his mother was making lunch. It was Saturday and he was taking time to enjoy the weekend.

"Mom, I'm going to the Digital World so I may be gone for awhile. So I may need to pack a lunch for me and Wormmon."

"Oh really, Ken, is something wrong in the Digital World that you have to go?" his mother asked.

"Mom, do you remember Ryo Akiyama, the boy who used to come play with me when Sam was too busy doing homework?"

"Yes, dear, but Ryo's dead sweetheart, he disappeared all those years ago."

"But it couldn't hurt to look for him in the Digital World, just one more time, if I can't find him, then I'll accept it."

"I understand, Ken, but how long will you be gone?" his mother asked.

"I don't know, but I'll e-mail you as often as I can and I have friends in the Digital World who will help me."

"Be careful, Ken," his mother smiled. "Good luck. Oh, and do you want me to contact your friends?"

"Don't worry about it, Mom, I'll e-mail them," Ken replied. He fired off a quick e-mail message to Izzy, telling him that he'd be in the Digital World for awhile.

Ken made sure all his things were packed and picked up Wormmon off the bed.

"Ready to go, Wormmon?" Ken asked.

"As ready as ever," Wormmon replied. They moved over to the computer.

"Digi-port, open!" Ken said, the light flashed on the screen as Ken saw the portal to the Digital World open.

There was a bright flash as Ken Ichijouji vanished from the Real World and reappeared in the Digital World.

"Where should we go first?" Wormmon asked.

"I don't know, maybe we should go find Gennai, he might know how to find Ryo," Ken said. Ken and Wormmon traveled through the Digital World until they came to the Primary Village where they spotted Gennai hovering over several unhatched Digi-Eggs.

"Ah, Ken," Gennai greeted, a warm gleam in his eyes as he looked over at the Child of Kindness. "What brings you to the Primary Village?"

"I was looking for you, Gennai, where's Elecmon?" Ken asked, walking over to him.

"He is busy running errands, but I'm here, how might I be of service to a Digidestined?" Gennai asked.

"Have you ever met a boy named Ryo Akiyama?" Ken asked.

"Of course, you and he traveled the Digital World several years ago when you were only ten years old. You both defeated Millenniummon. You also helped him through the D-1 Tournament when Ryo was summoned back to the Digital World while you were still sick at home."

"I don't remember helping him while I was sick," Ken admitted. Some of those places in his mind were still blank. "Do you know where I might find him?"

"All I can tell you is that Ryo left this dimension after defeating MoonMillenniummon. That is all I know."

"Gennai, are you saying there are other dimensions? Ones like ours with Digimon?" Ken asked. It would explain a lot about why no one had ever found Ryo's body in the Digital World or the real one.

"Yes, it is true, there are many dimensions with Digimon in them, but they are not just like this one. They are each different and unique."

"Do you know how to get to these other dimensions?" Ken asked eagerly. He wanted to find Ryo and bring him home.

"Ken, I hate to interrupt, but you have an e-mail message from Izzy," Wormmon said.

Ken opened the new e-mail and began to read.

_Ken, _

_I know that you're in the Digital World now__, I got your message __and during my latest research on this history of the Digital World I have discovered an ancient legend about the Four Exalted Ones who defeated Daemon and drove him from the Digital World before Myotismon came. _

_The names of the Digimon are Gallantmon, Justimon, __Sakuyamon, and __MegaGargomon. __After the battle after they returned to the Primary Village, and just disappeared after they de-digivolved into Digi-eggs_.

"Gennai, do you know anything about this old legend?" Ken showed Gennai the e-mail. Gennai looked thoughtful.

"Yes, I have heard of it," Gennai replied. "But I have never met any of the four Exalted Ones in the legend. That was before even my time, if you can believe it."

"But you're made up of Data," Ken said.

"Yes, but that happened long before I was around. I wish I could do more to help you, Ken," Gennai sighed.

"Don't worry, Gennai, you've helped me enough already," Ken said. He motioned for Wormmon to follow him.

"Where should we start looking for this other dimension?" Wormmon asked.

"I think we should head down toward the beach," Ken answered. They both made their way down to the beach after several hours of walking, they both sat down.

Pulling out the lunch he had packed, the two began to eat furiously. As they were eating Wormmon looked up and saw a crimson beam shoot down from the sky.

"Ken, look! What's that?" Wormmon asked.

"I don't know, let's go check it out."

They headed off toward the strange beam of light that appeared in the sky. As they got closer they saw the beam of light was connected to the ground. Curious, Ken stepped toward it, reaching out for the beam of light.

"Ken, don't try to—" Wormmon shouted a warning. It was too late as Ken was sucked into the beam of light. Wormmon barely managed to latch himself onto his partner's leg as they were sucked into the portal. Ken wasn't sure where they were going, but he had a feeling that they were headed to one of those other universes Gennai had told him about. The question was which one was he going to, and would he manage to find Ryo and return home?

* * *

Henry Wong walked into his house and made his way into the living room where his friends Takato, Rika, Kenta, Kazu, and Jeri were waiting for him.

"You're late, Henry," Takato said. "You got in just in time, the Digimon marathon is about to start."

"Did Suzie let you in?" Henry asked.

"Yeah, you remembered we were coming over, right?" Kazu asked.

"Well I…" Henry trailed off.

"You totally forgot," Terriermon said, laughing.

"Yeah," Henry admitted sheepishly. "I did forget."

The Tamers began watching the first episode of the marathon, which was about Ken Ichijouji's origins as the Digimon Emperor.

Henry had seen this episode before and it played out as it had before until the scene where Ken was walking alone beside a boy with clothes that were eerily similar to the ones that Ryo Akiyama wore. He noted that the boy's face was never seen. He wondered who that boy was and why he was wearing Ryo's clothes.

"Hey, did you guys notice that?" Henry asked.

"What?" Kazu asked, "Notice what?"

"That boy with Ken, he's wearing Ryo's clothes."

"That's not Ryo, if it was Ryo they'd show his face," Kenta said.

"I don't know…it looks like the same clothes to me," Henry frowned. Terriermon hopped up on his shoulder.

"Momentai, Henry," the rabbit-dog hybrid Digimon said. "You're taking this way too seriously. It's just a TV show."

"But you're real, Terriermon, so it might mean that the Digimon and the Digital World of the show could be real too."

"Terriermon is right, you are thinking too much, Socrates," Rika said in her usual, sarcastic tone, "just watch the show, will ya?"

"I just can't help but thinking—" Henry said just as the TV signal became garbled and the picture blurred.

"Aw, man!" Kazu shouted, "get back on, you stupid signal, I wanna watch my show!"

The signal came back on and the Tamers all stared at the TV, expecting to see the "Genesis of Evil" back on the screen. Instead, they saw nothing but a gray fuzzy picture.

The TV picture flashed back on and the show started up again. The rest of the Tamers watched the show, not really thinking about why the screen had gone on the fritz, but Henry had always had a little more insight than the others and knew that the interference had happened for a reason, but he didn't know what it was.

That strange feeling lingered with him the rest of the afternoon and into the evening, although on the outside he acted normal, his thoughts wondered back to that image of the boy who resembled Ryo over and over again.

_Was that really Ryo? _Henry thought to himself, _could he be from another dimension? _

Henry remembered the Digimon Wonderswan games that featured Ken Ichijouji and Ryo Akiyama. Ryo was the main character of many games like Anode/Cathode Tamer, Digimon Adventure 02: Tag Tamers, Digimon Adventure 02: D-1 Tamers and Digimon: Brave Tamer.

If Kenta and Kazu were such big fans of Digimon, why didn't they realize Ryo was the one in the videogames? Why didn't anyone else seem to make that connection either?

Henry shrugged his shoulders and smiled at his friends as they finished the Digimon marathon.

"I wonder why that happened," Jeri said, frowning.

"I don't know, Jeri," Takato answered. "They must've had a glitch at the network or something."

"If you say so, Takato," Jeri said, smiling.

"Well I gotta head home, my parents want me to finish my homework," Takato said as he and Guilmon headed out the door.

"My mom and Grandma are going to some fancy restaurant for dinner," Rika said. Renamon disappeared and Rika followed Takato out the door.

"We better split too," Kazu said. He looked at Kenta and the other boy nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, I have to head home and do homework too, oh the torture," Kenta moaned.

"Stop complaining," Kazu scolded. "At least I take it like a man, unlike you, you whiney baby!"

"What is with you guys? What's your problem, Kazu?" Jeri asked.

"We have a problem?" Kazu shouted. "So says the girl who talks to a puppet on her hand!"

"Hey, leave her alone!" Henry retorted. "Just ignore them, Jeri."

"I'll try, thanks Henry," Jeri left too. Even though she had moved on from Leomon's death, she still missed her Digimon partner. Even though she was happy with her life she couldn't help but feel sad sometimes and he hid that fact by still using her dog puppet and acting cheerful. She couldn't help but wonder if there was a way to bring Leomon back. She put the thought out of her mind as she headed for the subway to go to her home in Shibuya.

After all his friends were gone, Henry sat down to work at the computer. Little Suzie was busy playing with Lopmon while Henry started to write his report on his latest reading assignment, _The Fall of the House of Usher_ when Suzie spotted something outside.

"Hey Henry, there's a bright light!" Suzie shouted. Henry ran to the window.

"Something's Bio-emerging!" Henry exclaimed.

Janyu ran into the room. "Yamaki just called. He wants you and Terriermon to go see what it was."

"Can I go with Henry, Daddy?" Suzie asked.

"No, Suzie you can't, it might be too dangerous," Janyu said.

"But I'm a Digimon Tamer!" Suzie shouted.

"Don't worry, Suzie, I'll be back, you can come with me next time," Henry promised. He turned his attention to his father.

"What about the others?" Henry said. Just then, the phone rang. Henry ran and picked it up. It was Takato.

"Did you see that?" Takato asked.

"Yes, I'm heading for Shinjuku Park," Henry replied.

"What about us? I'm calling Rika and we're coming with you," Takato said.

"No! You guys have to go home, I'll check into it and let you know what's going on. Your parents are expecting you home. You have to let Rika know she doesn't need to come after this one."

"Okay, but she's not going to like it," Takato said.

"See you later," Henry finished as he hung up the phone.

"C'mon Terriermon, let's go!"

Terriermon hopped up onto Henry's shoulder.

"Let's get this show on the road!" Terriermon shouted. "I wanna fight whatever it is that's coming!"

"Just hold your horses, Terriermon. We don't even know if it's a threat," Henry scolded.

"Yeah, right, Henry," Terriermon snorted. "Everything that's ever Bio-Emerged in the Real World is always a threat. Let's go kick some Digi-butt!"

"Don't get your hopes up, Terriermon," Henry warned.

"Aw, you're no fun!" Terriermon complained as they headed out the door.

* * *

Ken awoke, groggily rubbing his eyes.

"Wormmon?" he called. "Where are you?"

"I'm right here, Ken." Wormmon answered.

"We better get going," Ken said, standing up and dusting himself off. "This is the Digital World isn't it?"

"Yes, it is, but it's different somehow," Wormmon frowned, looking around. All he could see was endless desert.

"I wonder how we get to the real world from here. I don't' see any televisions to access the Digi-Port."

"I don't know, but I'm sure we'll figure something out," Wormmon reassured him.

'Something's coming," Ken said warily.

Wormmon saw it too. It was a DarkLizardmon, and it was headed straight for them!

"Oh, great!" Ken growled staring at his Digivice as it fed him information about DarkLizardmon. "DarkLizardmon is a virus type, Evil Dragon Digimon. Her attacks are Dark Flare, Snipe Fang, and Darkness Ray."

"A human? How can there be a human in the Digital World?" DarkLizardmon shrieked.

"That's none of your business, Ugly!" Ken retorted. He was ready for a fight, so was Wormmon. This Digimon was definitely not one of the friendly ones.

"It doesn't matter, I will gladly upload your partner's data and then I will be strong enough to go to the Real World!"

"Go to the Real World?" Ken asked, bewildered. "What do you mean, 'go to the Real World?' You don't belong there; you belong in the Digital World."

DarkLizardmon laughed. "You are stupid, Human. Digimon belong in the Real World. It is the only reason we exist."

"You're not going to the Real World if it means killing Wormmon!" Ken shouted.

"That's right, DarkLizardmon. I'm not some stepping stone for you to get strong enough so you can Digivolve!" Wormmon added. His eyes hardened, he was ready to fight for his digital life.

"So be it!" DarkLizardmon growled, "I'll show those humans! They tried to destroy me, but I will return to the Real World stronger than ever!" she rose up and prepared to attack.

A bright light glowed and Wormmon began to Digivolve. "Wormmon Digivolve to…" Wormmon spun around faster and faster until he grew in size and sprouted wings. "…Stingmon!"

"Go get her, Stingmon!" Ken ordered.

"Spiking Strike!" Wormmon shouted, the spikes on his shoulders emitted a pink glow and a blade extended from his forearm. He slashed at DarkLizardmon, grazing the Digimon's shoulder.

DarkLizardmon shrieked angrily and shouted, "Dark Flare!"

A stream of fire shot out toward Stingmon, but the virus Digimon dodged. He looked at DarkLizardmon. "Is that all you've got?" he taunted.

"Snipe Fang!" DarkLizardmon shouted as she managed to sink her teeth into Stingmon's shoulder. Stingmon tried to throw her off but couldn't get a good grip on DarkLizardmon's bulky mass. DarkLizardmon picked up Stingmon and threw him across the sand.

"Gungh!" Stingmon groaned as he tried to stand to his feet.

DarkLizardmon viciously slashed her claws across Stingmon's side. He cried out in pain.

"STINGMON!" Ken roared angrily charging DarkLizardmon. No one hurt Wormmon; no one was going to take his friend away from him. He wasn't going to lose Wormmon again. Not like this.

Stingmon suddenly de-Digivolved back into Wormmon. Ken felt helpless and angry; he continued moving toward DarkLizardmon, intent on stopping her no matter what the cost was.

"No, KEN!" Wormmon shouted he wasn't Stingmon anymore; his battle with DarkLizardmon had drained him of his strength.

DarkLizardmon slowly approached Ken, who had assumed a Judo fighting stance. He'd never actually fought a Digimon in hand-to-hand combat, but he wasn't going down without a fight.

"Darkness Ray—" DarkLizardmon said, preparing to finish off Wormmon when something made her stop and look up at the sky in horror.

A bright light appeared and an enormous winged Digimon swooped down from the sky. Everything happened so fast that Ken had no time to think.

_"__Yuggoth Blaster!"_ the voice shouted as a tri-bolo beam of light spewed from its mouth, consuming DarkLizardmon in a wall of energy.

"NOOOO!" DarkLizardmon shrieked as she died, exploding into a million data fragments, she vanished from sight.

_"Do you wish to go__ to the Real World, Ken?" _a voice asked him.

"Who—who are you?" Ken asked, turning he began looking around. Wormmon followed his gaze and saw a large metallic Digimon, covered in crimson body-armor; it looked like a winged dragon.

_"I am __Grani;__ I was created as a program in the Real World of this dimension in order to bring the Tamers home from the Digital World. I__ became self aware and offered to assist the humans against the D-Reaper and__ went back to the Real World in order to battle the Chaos that nearly destroyed both world and gave my strength to Gallantmon in the final battle, although much of me resides in Gallantmon, a fragment of me has returned to the Digital World."_

"I see; how do you know about me?" Ken asked.

_"In this dimension, Ken Ichijouji is nothing more than a character of fiction in a children's television show about the Digimon. It appears that you are more than they think, Ken. Would you like to go to their world?" _Grani asked.

"Yes, I would like to go there, I'm looking for someone," Ken said. He was in awe that humans had created a Digimon that had taken on a life of his own. He wasn't even born from a Digi-Egg.

_"Who are you looking for?"_

"His name is Ryo Akiyama," Ken said. "Since this is an alternate reality I wonder if he could be here."

_"I know a boy named Ryo Akiyama," _Grani said_. "He is one of the Tamers in the Real World."_

"Tamers?" Ken asked. "I heard that somewhere a long time ago."

_"That is what the Digidestined call themselves in that world_," Grani said.

A bright light flashed in front of Ken and he covered his eyes, he saw a large round dome that resembled a turtle appear in front of him. Grani could change his form; that was unexpected.

_"As I said, I was first programmed to bring the children back home from the Digital World. The humans called me an __Ark__ get in if you wish to go to the Real World."_

Ken followed Grani's instructions and climbed inside the Ark. Wormmon followed suit.

_"Please keep your hands and appendages inside the vehicle and enjoy the ride," _Grani said humorously. "_I always enjoy a good conversation and will answer any questions you might have."_

"Okay, how do you know how to get back to the Real World of this dimension?"

_"I remember how because Takato and Guilmon talked to me when I was bringing th__em home when the track I was on__ disintegrated."_

"Takato? Is he the leader of the Tamers?" Ken asked.

_"Yes," _Grani replied.

"So he's kind of like Davis or Tai," Ken added. "He's the one they all follow."

_"You could say that," _Grani's voice echoed through the inside of the Ark.

"Thank you, Grani, for everything," Ken said. At least he was going to the Real World, even if it wasn't his Real World. It was better than having to fight off savage Digimon who were trying to go to the Real World. That puzzled him greatly. Why would Digimon want to travel to the Real World? In his dimension they waited in the Digital World for their human partners to find them.

"Excuse me, Grani," Wormmon said. "Why do Digimon want to go to the Real World? We were attacked by a DarkLizardmon, who said she would upload my data and go to the Real World because I was as Digimon with a human partner."

_"This Digital World is much more dangerous than the one you know," _Grani explained. _"It is a world where 'survival of the fittest' is the only law that exists among the Digimon. A Digimon only has one goal: to go to the real world so that they will find their human partner. _

"Is that why we were attacked?" Ken asked.

_"Some Digimon believe that if they absorb the data of a Digimon who has a human partner they will become stronger than if they absorbed the data of a Digimon without one. I am not sure how your Digivice can activate Digivolution in this world because you are not from this dimension."_

"Maybe it's because I'm still in the Digital World, or perhaps it's because Ryo lives in this dimension. Millenniummon said that Ryo was a random element that could make the impossible possible. I remember that, and not much else about Ryo Akiyama. I know there's something special about him."

_"Yes, that's true," _Grani said. _"Ryo is a special boy. He is the only one of the Tamers or the Digidestined who has lived in both dimensions."_

"How do you know that?" Ken asked.

_"I know more than even my human creators know about me, I have been a Digimon longer than even the Tamers know. But that doesn't matter."_

"Grani, there's so much I want to ask you—" Ken began.

Grani interrupted him. _"There is no time. We are almost to the real world. I will leave you soon, Ken. But don't worry; my friends will take care of you."_

"But how will I know who your friends are, Grani?" Ken asked.

_"They'll know you, Ken, and you will know the Tamers because they have partners," _Grani said. _"We have arrived. Farewell, Ken."_

"But Grani!" Ken shouted.

_"Farewell, we will meet again soon enough,"_ Grani's voice echoed and dissipated as Ken and Wormmon were surrounded by a bright light. They had arrived in the Real World.

* * *

Mitsuyo Yamaki stood inside the Hypnos building, flipping the lid of his Zippo lighter up and down.

"Sir, something is bio-emerging into the real world," Riley said as she furiously typed commands into the Hypnos computer system.

"Is it a Digimon?" Yamaki asked, looking up slightly.

"I'm not sure, I'm putting a tracer on it now," Riley said, she punched in more commands. "I—I don't believe it, the Wild One has Grani's program signature, but Grani disintegrated in the battle with the D-Reaper! How could he come back?"

"Should I call the Monster Makers about this?" Tally asked from her seat behind Riley.

"I think they'd want to know," Yamaki said. "Did you get anything else on that Grani-type Wild One?"

"Yes, there's something inside it, I think one of them is a Digimon," Riley said.

"And the other one?" Yamaki asked.

"I'm not sure what it its," Riley admitted.

"Where will it appear?" Yamaki frowned. He hoped that whatever the Digimon was that it wouldn't cause a major disturbance to anything.

"West Shinjuku," Tally answered. "I've pinpointed it to Bio-emerge in Shinjuku Park."

Mitsuyo Yamaki pulled out his cell phone from his pocket and dialed a number.

"Hello, Janyu," he greeted Henry's father over the phone. "It seems Grani is Bio-emerging into the real world. There's something with him, but my operatives can't identify it. Have your son and Terriermon look into and tell me what they find. Call me back as soon as you know anything." He hung up the phone. He'd have to trust the children. He hoped that the Digimon inside of Grani wasn't a threat.

* * *

Henry ran through the streets of Shinjuku, following the compass on the screen of his D-Power. Turning a corner he headed straight for Shinjuku Park. He saw the bright light begin to dissipate and squinted, trying to see what was inside the Digital Field.

As the light disappeared, Henry saw a boy about thirteen years old, standing in the middle of Shinjuku Park. Henry gasped. He knew who this boy was without having to say anything.

_Ken Ichijouji?!_ Henry's mind screamed. _How could he be here?!_

Henry stared at Ken as the Child of Kindness rubbed a hand over his eyes sand turned his attention to him. He spotted Terriermon atop Henry's shoulder and his eyes went wide.

"Willice?" Ken asked. He shook his head. This boy wasn't Willice; Willice lived in America and had blonde hair. This boy had black hair, but bore a strange resemblance to Willice.

"No, you're not Willice, this is Shinjuku Park," Ken said. "Who are you?"

"I'm Henry," Henry said, "Henry Wong. How did you get here, Ken?"

"A Digimon calling himself Grani offered to bring me to the Real World." Ken saw Henry's eyes become wider.

"Grani, are you sure?" Henry asked.

"Yes," Ken replied. "You know who I am? Oh, yeah, Grani told me I'm just a character of fiction here."

"I was right about Ryo!" Henry exclaimed. To his surprise, Ken began shaking. "Ken, are you okay?"

"You—you know Ryo Akiyama?" Ken asked, shaking. He couldn't believe it, Ryo was alive! He'd been right all along.

"Yes, that is Ryo with you when you went to the Digital World, wasn't it?" Henry asked.

"Yes," Ken replied. "Tell me Henry, how long has Ryo lived in this dimension?"

"I don't know, I've never asked him that. I just figured out he was from your universe today, actually."

"Hello, there," Wormmon said moving into Henry's view.

"Hello Wormmon," Henry greeted, bending down to pat the Digimon's head. "It's nice to finally meet you."

"Likewise," Wormmon said.

Terriermon hopped down, "So what's it like to be partnered with a Boy Genius?"

Wormmon laughed, "Ken is well, Ken, and he's my best friend."

"I could say the same for Henry, except Ken is smarter than he is!"

"Hey, I resent that Terriermon!" Henry exclaimed, glaring at his Digimon. Terriermon tried to ignore his partner until he couldn't stand it and cringed.

"Geez Henry, I was just joking," Terriermon apologized. Henry laughed and turned back to Ken Ichijouji.

"I'm sorry, I haven't formally introduced myself," Ken said apologetically. "I'm Ken Ichijouji."

"I know, Ken," Henry said. "Since you don't have a place to stay, how 'bout you come home with me. I'd like for you to meet my Dad."

"Your Dad?" Ken asked.

"Yes, my Dad was one of the Monster Makers," Henry said. Ken looked puzzled.

"The Monster Makers were a group of people who wanted to create artificial life programs back in the 1980s, my father and his friends created programs that eventually became the Digimon."

"Your father…created the Digimon?" Ken asked in awe. He had never dreamed that the Digimon were actually created by humans. He'd heard that Digimon may have started out as packets of data but he had never actually thought about where they had come from.

"Yes, would you like to meet him?" Henry asked.

"I would really like that," Ken said. This world never ceased to amaze him. Everything about it was different. He was ready for anything and he was eager to meet the man who created the Digimon and see Ryo Akiyama soon.


	2. Chapter Two: Revelations & Reunions

**Chapter Two: ****Revelations and Reunions **

"So what you're saying is that I'm a character in a Television show and a manga?" Ken asked Henry curiously as they made their way across Shinjuku Park.

"Yes, I watch you every day on TV," Henry said. "I never actually though I'd say that to you honestly. I had never even thought about the possibility of a parallel universe until I recognized Ryo Akiyama on TV."

"How do you know it was Ryo and not some other boy?" Ken voiced the question he had been wondering.

"I know Ryo Akiyama and that was him. It's strange because they only show his face once, just everything from behind."

"I see. Has Ryo ever mentioned me?" Ken asked.

"No, but I've never brought up the subject anyway, I'm sure he thinks about you a lot though," Henry reassured him. Ken suddenly felt awkward, being in a world where everything was different. Would things be the same between him and Ryo? He was unsure of what he should do. It showed on his face and Henry noticed.

"Something on your mind?" Henry asked.

"I'm not sure what I should do," Ken said, "I've been searching for Ryo for so long, I never actually thought about what I would do when I found him."

"Eh, Momentai," Henry laughed, slapping him on the back. "You just act like yourself. I'm sure Ryo will be happy to see you."

"I wish I had your confidence," Ken sighed. "Momentai…Isn't that a Cantonese phrase for "Take it easy" or "No problem"?"

"Yes, I'm not surprised you know, considering you're a genius and all," Henry said. "We better get back to my house. My family will want to meet you and Mr. Yamaki will want to know what's going on."

"Mr. Yamaki?" Ken had never heard of him before. "Who's he?"

"He's a man who works for the government and keeps track of Digimon who Bio-Emerge into the Real World."

"Bio-Emerge? DarkLizardmon said she wanted to go to the Real World when Stingmon and I defeated her, is that how they get here?"

"Yes, the data of the Digimon on the net will synthesize their proteins and "Bio-emerge" from the Digital World into the Real World, coming mainly though the Hypnos computer system."

"Isn't Hypnos also the Greek god of Sleep?" Ken asked.

"Yes, but here, it's a government organization who keeps track of Digimon on the network."

"And Mr. Yamaki, does he work for this Hypnos?"

"Yes, he does, he tried to delete the Digimon from the Real World but then he realized that there were Digimon who were actually good and helped us to defeat the D-Reaper."

"The D-Reaper. Grani mentioned the D-Reaper. It's some kind of computer program isn't it?" Ken was interested in this. He was a master computer programmer and yet he'd never heard of any program called the "D-Reaper".

"Well the D-Reaper was created by the American Department of Defenses' SIGINT system, ECHELON, and was designed to delete excess data and manage artificial intelligence."

"I see. It makes sense why the D-Reaper would attack Digimon because they can change and Digivolve, and it would come after us because mankind has evolved too." Ken said. "How much of the Digital World did the D-Reaper delete before it was destroyed by you Tamers?"

About half of it, wait—who told you I was a Tamer?!" Henry asked, shocked. He wasn't expecting Ken to know that about him. He hadn't even mentioned it.

"Grani told me about a boy named Takato and that he was the leader of the Tamers. He also said I would know who the Tamers were because they would have partners. It's obvious you're a Tamer, because you have Terriermon. I don't see other kids running around with Digimon around here, so you must be one of the other Tamers. Grani also said that that is what you Digidestined call yourselves."

"Ken, are you sure it was Grani that brought you to the Real World?" Henry asked.

"Yes, I'm certain of it. He said that he was created by humans as an Ark and helped you all defeat the D-Reaper," Ken replied.

"That's right, but Grani gave Gallantmon his wings and then he disintegrated. So how did he manage to return to the Digital World?" Henry wondered aloud.

"I'm not sure but he survived somehow. He also said something that didn't make sense to me."

"What did he say to you?" Henry inquired.

"He said he's been a Digimon longer than even his human creators know," Ken replied.

"But how, he was created by Mr. McCoy…but how could he have been a Digimon before that?"

"I honestly don't know. This world is so different from my own. It boggles my mind that humans actually created Digimon and that they fight here in the Real World. I mean I 'created' Kimeramon, but he was a mixture of different Digimon, and not like Grani."

"Yeah. By the way we're here," Henry said. He led Ken to his house and knocked on the door.

Ken saw the door open and a middle aged man stood in the entrance.

"Henry, you're back, I—" Janyu stopped short when he saw Ken Ichijouji standing beside Henry. "I don't believe it! Is that—?"

"Ken Ichijouji, sir," Ken said, introducing himself. Janyu stared at him intently, hardly believing his eyes.

"Ken, so you're the one who bio-emerged here!" Janyu exclaimed. "Please, come in. We have a lot to talk about."

Ken made his way into the Wongs' apartment and took off his shoes.

Rinchei and Jaarin were doing homework, while Mayumi was busy cooking dinner.

"Let me introduce you to my family, Ken," Janyu said. "Hey, Rinchei, Jaarin, Suzie; Mayumi! We have company! Please come into the living room."

Rinchei, Jaarin, Suzie, and Mayumi made their way into the living room. At the sight of Ken, Rinchei and Jaarin went wide-eyed. They weren't exactly fans of Digimon like Henry but they had watched the show enough to know who Ken Ichijouji was.

Mayumi Wong smiled. "Well hello there, who are you?"

"You're Ken Ichijouji, aren't you?" Rinchei asked. "How'd you get here?"

"I haven't actually got to ask him that," Janyu said. "Ken this is my son Rinchei, my daughter Jaarin, and my wife, Mayumi Wong."

Just then, Suzie entered the room with Lopmon at her side.

"Henry!" a little girl exclaimed, jumping up and down. "You brought home Ken Ichijouji. He's not all mean is he? He's not the big bad Digimon Emperor is he?"

"Don't worry, Suzie, he's just fine. He's not the Digimon Emperor anymore. He's one of the Digidestined."

"Oh, okay, He's cute, doesn't Yolie like him?"

"Stop badgering him with questions, you're embarrassing him!" Henry scolded as Ken turned a bright shade of red at the mentioning of Yolie Inoue, who, at one time as far as Ken knew, did have a crush on him. He had no idea if she still did or not. Still, it was embarrassing to have it mentioned so casually by a little girl who he had never met before.

"It's nice to meet all of you," Ken said.

"Well, you arrived just in time," Mayumi said. "We were just about to sit down to supper."

"Uh, Dad, do you think Ken could stay with us, at least until we can figure out how to send him back to his dimension."

"Of course, and we have to tell Mr. Yamaki what's going on. If word got out that Ken Ichijouji is here, it will cause a lot of fans of the show to mob him; then we'd never be able to figure out how to send him home."

"Actually, there is a reason I tried to come to this dimension," Ken said.

"Ryo Akiyama," Henry interrupted. "You were looking for Ryo Akiyama."

"You know Ryo Akiyama?" Janyu asked. "Then that means he's from your dimension." Janyu rubbed his temple. "Now we _have to_ keep it a secret as much as we can. If words got out there are two people here from the _Digimon Adventure_ dimension, we'd have tons of kids and possibly adults trying to cross over to the other dimension."

"Uh, _Digimon Adventure_, what's that?" Ken asked.

"Oh, that's the name of the TV show you're in," Henry explained. "It's how we know who you are."

"I see. Mr. Wong, is it true that you created the Digimon?" Ken asked. "Henry told me that you worked on computer programs that eventually became the Digimon."

"Yes, that's true, me and my friends worked on those programs in the 1980s but the government shut it down before we even got to finish it. We were very disappointed but then we decided to turn some of our work into the programs that became the Digimon TV show, anime and card game. We had no clue they had evolved into Digimon until they started coming to the Real World."

"As interesting as this is, Janyu, why don't you continue this conversation with Ken over dinner, the food is ready."

They made their way into the kitchen and sat down.

"Enjoy the dinner," Mayumi said, placing down the rice, vegetables, and sour crout.

During dinner Ken explained how he had crossed over into their dimension. He also explained how he knew Ryo and although he couldn't remember all of his earlier adventures, he told them what he could recall and Henry nodded.

"It's just like those Wonderswan games I have," Henry said after he finished swallowing his food. "Maybe if you play them it'll help you remember what else happened to you."

"Maybe, but I never thought that a videogame could actually help me," Ken said, pondering the idea. "It's worth a shot, since you just said yourself my story is just like this game you have."

"I'd be happy to help, and I'm sure Takato, Rika, and the others will want to help you, especially Ryo."

"And speaking of Ryo, when will I get to see him?" Ken asked.

"You'll get to see him tomorrow. There's a big Digimon Card Game Tournament, the Digimon Grand Prix, we call it. The winner of the contest is proclaimed the best Digimon Card Player in all of Japan. A friend of mine, Rika, she won it last year. Ryo beat her the year before and she resented him for it."

Ken laughed. "I figured he would. He's the one random element that makes the impossible possible, at least that's what I remember. This Rika girl, she's a friend yours. Is she a friend of Ryo's too?"

"They are friends, but it's more of a rivalry. After Rika won the tournament, people began to call her the "Digimon Queen", and they called Ryo the "Digimon King". It really irked Rika that there was someone who was a better Digimon card player better than she was. She thought she always had to be the best."

"That sounds a lot like me, except I refused to have any friends. I always thought everyone was beneath me," Ken sighed. "It's ironic, isn't it?"

"What is?" Janyu asked, curious.

"That the Digimon King and the Digimon Emperor are best friends. That we could walk down similar paths but take two different roads. I saved his life and in turn, fell from grace while he went off to save another world. And despite being gone from my life he still saved me. It was my fleeting memories of him and Wormmon that helped me find my heart after all the terrible things I did. I never thought I'd see him again but now that I've found him…I've never been happier in my life."

"Ryo was your best friend," Henry said, "Does anyone else in that dimension remember him?"

"Yes, but they've had him declared dead since then. No one's been able to find him. It's one of the reasons I want to become a private investigator, I wanted to use those skills to search for Ryo."

"Ah, that's a good thing to be, people always need help from others," Janyu said.

"Yes, it is," Ken replied. "There was something I wanted to ask you about this Digimon Card Game of yours."

"What is it you want to know?" Henry asked.

"Would you teach me how to play?" Ken asked. "It wouldn't be right for me to go to a Digimon Grand Prix and not know how to play."

"But if you sign up and put your real name down, they'll all wonder if you're the real Ken Ichijouji," Janyu protested.

"I wonder; can you enter this contest anonymously?" Ken asked.

"I think so, but I don't think anyone's ever done it before," Henry said, frowning.

"We could try it," Ken said.

"Yeah, we could," Henry smiled.

"Now this is all well and good, Henry, but you can't forget to do your homework," Janyu said sternly.

"Don't worry, sir, I'll help Henry with his homework. Besides, I think it'd be kind of interesting to see what they give for homework in another dimension."

"Well, where there's homework, the nerds gather," Henry laughed.

"I am not a nerd!" Ken and Janyu protested in unison.

"You're both computer programmers, so yes you're both nerdy, but you'll never admit it because you two are too smart for that."

"Enough with the nerd jokes, we've got to go see Yamaki and tell him what's going on," Janyu said. They finished eating and got into the family car.

They drove to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, where they headed inside as Ken swallowed nervously. What did the government want with him and Wormmon? What were they going to do with him? Would he become a lab experiment or worse would they think that he was insane and place him in an asylum?

Janyu, Henry and Ken all made their way to the room where the Hypnos computer system was located.

Ken looked up in awe at the vast room before him. There were two platforms, resembling cranes located high above him; he saw two women sitting atop them entering commands into keyboards as an enormous map of Shinjuku filled a vast video screen.

Ken immediately noticed a man sitting in a chair staring up at all this with an impassive expression on his face. He had blond hair and resembled T.K. in an eerie, disturbing kind of way. He was wearing a pair of sunglasses, which seemed ironic to Ken considering the fact that they were in a dimly lit room.

Ken's ears heard a distinctive _click, click;__ click. _Ken turned, looking for the source of the noise. It was metallic in nature and he realized it came from the Zippo in the man's hand.

"Mr. Yamaki," Janyu greeted the man respectfully. The man turned his gaze on them and looked at Ken with barely noticed curiosity.

"Did you find the anomaly?" Mitsuyo asked, keeping his voice even.

"Yes; and that "anomaly" has a name. This is Ken Ichijouji and his Digimon partner Wormmon."

"How is it that a human can Bio-emerge into the Real World from the Digital World without your Ark, Janyu?"

"Ken explained that Grani brought him to the Real World, but I don't understand how Grani survived his battle with the D-Reaper."

"I don't either Janyu, I'll have Dolphin and the other Monster Makers look into it right away." Yamaki turned his attention to Ken. "Where are you from Mr. Ken Ichijouji?"

"I live in Tamachi, in an alternate dimension, Mr. Yamaki, sir," Ken said, respectfully.

"An alternate dimension? What do you mean by that?" Yamaki shut his Zippo again. Ken had to wonder if the grating sound was annoying anyone besides him.

"Yamaki, in this dimension, Ken Ichijouji is a fictional character in the Digimon anime and manga that the children buy and play the Card Game that the show is based on."

"I see. We'll need to keep him hidden away. Then we'll figure out how to send him back to his own dimension. But we can't let the public know about this. We'd have people trying to escape to this Digital World and colonize it into some sort of tourist paradise. And from what I know about this Digital World it's not a very human friendly place."

"But Yamaki, we can't just lock Ken away somewhere and not expect anyone to find him," Janyu said.

"Alright then, keep a low profile, Mr. Ichijouji. The last thing I want to see is your face on the evening news. Don't get yourself into trouble, little boy. And keep that Digimon of yours on a tight leash. The last thing I want to see is another destroyed building. Henry, inform Takato and the other children about what's going on and tell them to keep Mr. Ichijouji here a secret."

"Thank you, sir," Ken said politely. Janyu led to two boys out of the room. Once the doors were closed, Ken let out a sigh of relief.

"That went well," he said. "I thought he'd lock me away in an insane asylum."

"He took it better than I expected," Janyu said. "Now at least we can go home, and Henry, you still need to finish your homework."

"Okay, Dad, I'll finish it when we get home," Henry replied. They drove back to the apartment and Henry and Ken headed to his room.

Ken saw Terriermon standing in Henry's room playing the Playstation 2 and Wormmon was watching him. He was hitting buttons with his small hands and Ken looked up at the screen to see _Final Fantasy X_ on the TV.

"You guys have _Final Fantasy_ here?" he asked.

"Who doesn't? The best games for the PS2 are all _Final Fantasy_," Henry said. "Hey Terriermon, how far are you in the game?"

"I'm at the part where you have to beat Sin before its mouth opens all the way and I just can't beat it!" Terriermon shouted in frustration.

"Just use Quick Hit and Hasteaga when you get close to him," Ken said. "And don't call the Aeons. They'll just waste your turns."

"Man you're smart," Terriermon muttered, turning his attention to the game.

"How'd you get into these games anyway?" Henry asked.

"Izzy Izumi," Ken replied. "These are the only videogames he'll play, he says, "They actually require thinking, unlike most videogames which just involve shooting people." I like them too, they have good stories."

"I guess _Final Fantasy _is an interdimensional fad," Henry laughed. "Terriermon, could you turn that down? We're trying to do homework here."

"Okay," Terriermon said, turning the volume down. Ken helped Henry finish his homework in a half an hour. Henry was very impressed, even without the Dark Spore, Ken was still brilliant, although it was a fraction of what he had been able to accomplish under the Dark Spore's influence he was still considered a genius on many levels.

"I can't believe you helped me finish all this homework in a half an hour," Henry said. "Now, all I have to do is finish proofreading my report on _The Fall of the House of Usher_." Henry printed off his report and read over it.

"Here, you look at it, I can't find anything wrong with it," Henry handed it to Ken. Ken read over it and smiled. Henry was very smart, he'd say that Henry had to be nearly as smart as himself as he was now, although he had excelled more when he was the Digimon Emperor, Ken still had a high I.Q.

Ken made a few small corrections and handed Henry back his paper.

"You're very good, how do you do in school?" Ken asked.

"Good, I get above average grades," Henry said. He made the changes to his report and reprinted it. "At least that's over with."

"Now that the work's done, let me show you how to play the game," Henry said, pulling an extra deck of the Digimon card game off the shelf. He handed Ken the deck.

"Ah, interesting…" Ken said, sorting through the various cards. He noticed they had Augumon, Greymon, MetalGreymon, and WarGreymon cards. They also had "Digi-Modify" cards which he didn't quite understand.

"So how do these "Digi-Modify" cards work anyway?" Ken asked.

Well, the Modify cards have different attributes, like speed, or power. Some of them have other Digimon's attacks, like this one here," Henry held up Modify Card. "This one's Frigimon's Sub-Zero Ice Punch."

"So if I played, say Patamon, I could modify him with Digimon's Drill and he could use it as a weapon," Ken said. The game made sense.

"Sure you could, but that doesn't mean it'd be a better part of strategy," Henry said, as he went on to explain the concept of combos and how the right one could give you the edge without having to play a Digivolution card.

"I see, well, let's play a few games so I can get a feel for this," Ken said. They proceeded to do just that.

_The Next Day…_

"Dad, what should we do with Ken while I'm at school? I can't exactly take him with me, he'd be mobbed by fans and screaming girls."

"Uh—screaming girls?" Ken gulped nervously.

"Oh, yes, there are plenty of girls who absolutely adore Ken Ichijouji, despite being a fictional character. As far as cuteness goes it's a three way tie between you, Davis and Tai Kamiya."

"Oh, I see, wait a minute, how did Davis end up being cuter than me?" Ken asked.

"I have no idea," Henry admitted. "I'm trying to think of a place where you could stay where no one would notice you."

"How about Shinjuku Park," Janyu suggested. "He can stay in Guilmon's hideout until after school. Then Ken could spend time with Guilmon and learn about how things are around here."

"Okay," Henry said. After they ate breakfast, they headed out to Shinjuku Park where Guilmon's hideout was.

"Guilmon, you in here?" Henry called out.

"Henry, is that you? I thought you were Takato bringing bread," Guilmon said, happily bounding out to greet Henry. He came to a stop when he saw Ken Ichijouji.

"Henry is that the real Ken Ichijouji?" Guilmon asked.

"See for yourself," Henry laughed. Guilmon came up and tentatively sniffed Ken's hand.

"He's the real Ken Ichijouji, I can smell Wormmon!" Guilmon said, circling Ken. "He looks just like he does on TV."

"He watches it too?" Ken wondered if there was anyone who _didn't _know who he was besides Yamaki.

"Yes, I do sometimes with Takato, but I'd rather eat bread!" Guilmon bounced around. "Did you bring me any bread Henry? Or peanut butter! I love peanut butter!"

"Did someone say my name?" Wormmon asked, waking from sleep. "Oh, who are you?"

"I'm Guilmon," Guilmon said, smiling.

"Guilmon, you're a champion level Digimon, aren't you?" Ken asked. Judging from the size of him, he had to be a champion level Digimon.

"No, I'm a rookie," Guilmon replied. "Growlmon is my champion form."

"You're a rookie?" Ken asked. "You can't be a rookie; you're so large; you have to be a champion."

"No, Ken, he's a rookie," Henry laughed. "I think he's one of the biggest rookie Digimon out there. Considering the fact that Takato created him, well, he's pretty special."

"Wait—you said Takato created him? How?" Ken asked. "How could he create a Digimon?"

"One day, Takato drew a picture of him and then he found a Blue Card in his deck. This Blue Card. It's not made in the stores and it has the ability to Bio-emerge into the Real World. Takato scanned his pictures of Guilmon into the Blue Card that became his Digivice and then Guilmon appeared in the Real World. Only the Digimon Tamers, what you would call Digidestined, get them."

"Thank you for telling me," Ken said. "I best let you go; you need to get to school."

"Here," Henry said, tossing Ken a Wonderswan game system. "Take these, to keep you occupied. I heard your quite the accomplished gamer. Anode/Cathode Tamer should keep you interested in because it has to do with Ryo, and the other one, Digimon Adventure 02: Tag Tamers, is about your adventures with Ryo when you went to the Digital World."

"Thanks," Ken said, he was about to join Guilmon inside the hideout when he saw a boy dressed in a blue shirt and gray pants come running up. Ken immediately knew this had to be Takato because of he was sporting the Goggles that were a running trend with all the leaders of the Digidestined. First, Tai, then Davis, now a new boy in another dimension wore them too.

"Henry, hey what are you doing here—" he spotted Ken and his mouth dropped so far that the Boy Genius thought that he would dislocate it.

"Ken Ichijouji?! How'd he get here? Is he the thing that Bio-merged here?"

"Yes," Henry said. "I apologize for his shock. Takato, meet Ken Ichijouji in the flesh."

Ken walked over to him and shook his hand. "It's nice to meet you, Takato."

"Thanks," Takato said. "Hey Guilmon, I brought you breakfast!"

Guilmon bounded out and Takato tossed him his bread and he caught it with his two claws.

"Bread! Yummy, yummy bread!" Guilmon squealed and promptly began eating.

"Man, Ken, there's so much we gotta talk about—" Takato began.

"But you both'll have to do it after school. And you have to keep this a secret. Come one, we're going to be late!" Henry said as he broke into a run.

"Hey! Wait for me!" Takato said as he hurried to join Henry. "We'll talk later, Ken!"

"Bye!" Ken said, waving. He joined Guilmon inside the hut and spotted Wormmon eating bread that Guilmon eagerly shared with the smaller Digimon.

Ken turned on the Wonderswan game and began to play Anode/Cathode Tamers. He found himself enjoying the game, wondering through the Digital World as Ryo Akiyama. He was interested in the fact that Ryo was paired up with Augumon. Ken beat the game in a few hours while Wormmon and Guilmon played inside the hideout. Guilmon kept bouncing Wormmon up and down on his tail as the small Digimon flew up into the air.

He then put in Digimon Adventure 02: Tag Tamers and played the game watching his adventures in the Digital World unfold before his eyes. He could remember some of the events that took place during the game, but some things were still fuzzy.

Later he checked his watch and realized it was time for lunch. He had packed a lunch and brought it with him before he left the Wongs house. Eating, he decided to get up and stretch his legs.

"Hey Guilmon, have you always lived here in the Real World?" Ken asked.

"Yes, Takato and I have lots of adventures together. I don't remember anything before I bio-emerged into the Real World."

"Could you tell me how you guys beat the D-Reaper?" Ken asked. "I never got the rest of the story from Henry."

"The D-Reaper followed us home after we went to the Digital World to save Calumon. The D-Reaper wanted to delete everything so Takato, Henry and Rika and Renamon and Terriermon and I all battled the D-Reaper. We couldn't bio-merge like we did in the Digital World so we all Digivolved to our Ultimate forms, Taomon, Rapidmon and WarGrowlmon and tried to fight it, but would couldn't beat it."

Guilmon ate a little more bread as Ken and Wormmon listened intently.

Guilmon told Ken about Alice and Dobermon and how he gave up his life force so they could Bio-merge to their Mega forms, Gallantmon, Sakuyamon and MegaGargomon. He told Ken how they defeated the D-Reaper and how Grani had played an important role in helping Gallantmon become Gallantmon Crimson mode. He was very sad when he told Ken about how the Digimon had to go back to the Digital World.

"Guilmon, you said that this Digimon Calumon was very important, why?" Ken asked. He'd never heard of a Calumon before.

"Calumon is the power of Digivolution in the form of a Digimon," Guilmon explained. "Digimon Sovereign Azulongmon hid the power of Digivolution inside Calumon to hide it from the D-Reaper who was drawn to the power to Digivolve."

"Calumon is a Digimon, but he causes Digivolution." The concept was unheard of, but the rules of his dimension did not apply here. It was still an amazing discovery. "Does he still have that power?"

"He released it back into the Digital World after Azulongmon asked him to." Guilmon looked thoughtful. "He never likes to fight, he just wants to play."

Guilmon had just finished his story when Takato and Henry came running up.

"Hey Ken, we brought you some food in case you got hungry. Hurry up and eat we have to go to the toy store real fast."

"Why do we need to go to a toy store?" Ken asked.

"Simple," Henry replied. "Takato and I are buying you a Digimon Card Game deck for the Tournament." They sat down inside the hideout. Ken smiled. This was going to be fun.

* * *

Ryo Akiyama woke up and got ready for school. Today was a day he had been looking forward to for a long time. It was the day of the Digimon Grand Prix, and Ryo was ready to play. It would be fun and challenging. But there was something about today that made Ryo feel even happier, but he couldn't say what it was. It was just a feeling, an overjoyed, euphoric emotion and he couldn't help but feel that today was going to be a very good day.

School was a drag as always. Ryo finished all his schoolwork and made sure he had his Digimon cards with him as he headed out the school door and toward downtown where they were having the Digimon Grand Prix Tournament.

Walking into the convention center, Ryo spotted Kazu and Kenta talking together.

"Hey Ryo! "Kenta called out. "You ready?"

"You better believe it!" Ryo replied.

Henry and Takato were standing together. Ken had run off to go sign up since he hadn't signed up early like the other Tamers so Ryo didn't see him.

"Hey Ryo, how are you?" Takato asked.

"I'm fine," Ryo replied. "Have any of you seen Rika?"

"I'm right here, Pretty Boy," Rika smirked, crossing her arms. "You didn't expect me to not show up did you?"

"Of course not," Ryo replied, smiling. "Rika, good luck today."

"You just better you get lucky, Ryo. I _am _going to win this time."

"I don't intend to give away my position in first place easily, Pumpkin," Ryo said. "We'll just have to see what happens."

"Humph," Rika muttered, stomping off.

"Well, I better get to my table," Ryo said. "The Tournament is about to start."

Ken sat down at a table and waited to begin. After preliminary greetings by an announcer, the contestants were picked at complete random and they began to play. The rounds didn't last long, ten minutes each at the most. Within a few hours they were narrowed down to the top 20. Takato had improved a lot since the last year's tournament and was proud of himself for ending up in 18th place with Kazu and Kenta in 19th and 20th. Ken had done extraordinarily well and was placed at 5th, with Henry at 4th after Henry had soundly defeated him with his Terriermon deck. Rika had beaten Henry and some nameless boy Ken had watched.

Ken watched Ryo face off with Rika as they began laying down their cards. Just seeing his friend brought all those memories of their adventures together. He tried to hide his smile as Ryo placed down his Goliath Card.

"Ryo Akiyama is once again the champion of the Digimon Grand Prix!" the announcer said. Rika glowered but Ryo smiled.

"It was a good game," Ryo congratulated.

"You were lucky again," Rika muttered.

Ken walked over to Takato and Henry. They both regarded him with a smile.

"Hey, you did good, 5th place is not bad," Henry congratulated.

"Thanks," Ken replied.

"You know, we were gonna meet at Guilmon's hideout to celebrate," Takato said. "If you beat us back there, you'd be a great surprise for Ryo."

"Okay," Ken said, he ducked out the front door before anyone noticed him.

"Hey Ryo, let's head over to Guilmon's hideout," Takato suggested. "I have all the celebration food inside."

"Hopefully, Guilmon didn't eat it all," Terriermon piped up. Everybody laughed.

They all headed to Shinjuku Park to the secluded little shed where Guilmon lived. Ryo walked in when he saw a boy sitting inside the hut. Ryo wondered who he was. He looked….familiar.

"Hello Ryo," Ken said, politely as Ryo entered Guilmon's hideout. Ryo knew that voice from somewhere. He knew it was the same boy from the Tournament and he had watched as Henry had beaten him using Terriermon as his choice for a Digimon. Ryo noticed that the boy had picked Wormmon as his choice to play with, which was odd, despite Wormmon being a popular Digimon in the Anime he was not a popular Digimon in the card game.

"What are you doing here; did you come all this way to meet me? If you did I'm really flattered." Ryo tried to get a better look at the young teens face but he couldn't see him in the dim light, and he was wearing sunglasses too.

"I came because I wanted to play against you, and see if you're really the best Digimon Card Player there is," Ken said, keeping his voice low enough that he wouldn't be recognized.

"This is just a friendly competition, right?" Ryo asked.

"Yeah," Ken said. "We used to play lots of games together."

Ryo gave him a funny look. "Huh?"

"Nothing, never mind," Ken said quickly. "Winner's first." He waited for Ryo to lay down his cards.

Ken had gone through his entire deck and he had found the one thing he never dreamed existed in the card game: Millenniummon. He knew about the Wonderswan games but he'd never thought they had made a card of him. He had asked Henry how rare they were, and Henry said they were really rare because Millenniummon was such a popular Digimon.

He wondered if he should play the Millenniummon card when he saw Ryo lay down a Monodramon Card.

"This is a long shot," Ken said, laying down DemiDevimon.

"Speed Activate," Ryo said, laying the Digi-Modify card down.

"DemiDevimon Warp Digivolve to Kimeramon," Ken put down the Warp Digivolve card and Ryo raised an eyebrow.

"You should have played like this during the tournament, why do all this now?" Roy was trying to put the face with the voice. He knew this kid…from somewhere.

"I only play this way for you, after all, we _are_ best friends," Ken smiled.

"I know you, don't I?" Ryo said. The teenager's face was so familiar. His eyes, if he could see his eyes he might recognize him.

"Care to take off the sunglasses?" Ryo asked.

"After the game," Ken said.

"Monodramon Warp Digivolve to Cyberdramon," Ryo smiled, this kid was giving him a good fight.

"Kimeramon DNA Digivolve with Machinedramon to…" Ken said, laying down two cards, one a DNA Digivolution card and the other a Machinedramon card, "Millenniummon."

Ryo dropped his cards, staring in shock. "How did you know how to do that?"

"I've seen it done," Ken said. Ryo was about to say something when Henry interrupted.

"Ken…how much do you remember about Ryo?" he asked.

Ken hesitated to speak. "Everything is…coming back to me, it's true. I can remember everything."

"Ken? Ken Ichijouji? Is that you, Kenny-Boy?" Ryo asked, hardly believing his eyes.

"Hey, old friend, how are you?" Ken asked, slipping off the sunglasses with a smile.

"KEN!" Ryo shouted, hugging Ken Ichijouji fiercely. "How is my one and only best friend?"

"WAIT A MINUTE!" Rika shouted loudly. "Is this kid the _real _Ken Ichijouji?"

"In the flesh," Ken shrugged.

"I'm not impressed," Rika smirked.

"Finally, someone who's _not_ fawning over me, thank you," Ken said, noticing Kenta and Kazu were gaping at him like they were a pair of sea bass. "Her friends seem to be easily impressed."

"Ryo, we have a lot of catching up to do," Ken said. Then he remembered Augumon and Veemon and what he tried to do to them when he was the Digimon Emperor. He had to apologize, say he was sorry and ask Ryo to forgive him for hurting his friends.

Ryo stared as Ken knelt before him. "Ken, get up off your knees!" Ryo said sternly. "What's going on with you? Just because I'm the Digimon King doesn't mean you have to kneel before me."

"Ryo, I'm sorry," Ken whispered.

"Ken, please get up, there's no need for you to do this!" Wormmon said, joining in Ryo's protests.

"I have to tell you how sorry I am," Ken said, his whole body shook, "I'm sorry for everything."

"What do you mean "you're sorry"? What are you talking about?" Ryo demanded. What was it that Ken could possibly be sorry about? Then Ryo remembered. The TV show. He'd watched it, and in seeing Ken's origin episode "Genesis of Evil" it had helped him regain some of his own lost memories after he had crossed from the other universe where the Digidestined lived, losing many of his memories of Ken and the other Digidestined.

Seeing the show had brought all those memories back and he also knew about Ken being the Digimon Emperor. Part of him had been angry, the other part of him felt disappointed. Ken had been such a good person, and his best friend, it had torn him up inside to see the evil things his best friend had done. He had felt anger and rage when he had watched Ken try to enslave Veemon and how he had forced his friend Augumon to dark digivolve into SkullGreymon.

Ryo had watched Ken's fall from grace and his triumphant return to his true self, as tragic as his origins were. Ryo couldn't help but wonder if he had been there if Ken would have become the Digimon Emperor.

"Ken you don't have to say you're sorry. You never did anything to me as the Digimon Emperor," Ryo placed a hand on his best friend's shoulder.

"But I did, I hurt your friends Augumon and Veemon. Augumon had been your temporary partners when you fought Millenniummon the first time and Veemon was your second partner when we fought Millenniummon the second time. I tried to hurt both your friends and in a way I hurt you even though you weren't there. I'm sorry, Ryo." Ken stared down at the floor.

"Ken, I accept your apology, now get up before I die of embarrassment," Ryo scolded, pulling Ken to his feet.

"Well, when you put it like that, Ryo," Ken said, standing to his feet. The former Boy Genius clapped a hand on Ryo's shoulder.

"What have you been doing here for so long anyway?" he asked.

"Saving the world, what else?" Ryo laughed. "My life is…different now."

"So I heard from Guilmon," Ken nodded, the explanation was…adequate, still, things felt awkward between them.

"So, how is everyone?" Ryo asked.

"As in 'everyone,' do you refer to the other Digidestined?" Ken asked.

"Yes, how are they?" Ryo repeated.

"They're fine," Ken replied. "They've been busy researching the Digital World lately…Oh, man, I completely forgot about Izzy's e-mail!"

He removed his D-3 from his pocket and checked it for new messages. There was another message from Izzy, and this one was urgent.

_Ken,_

_The Digital World is in danger! Daemon has escaped from the Dark Ocean somehow. We need you to back here now. We've been searching for you all day. Please R.SV.P._

_Izzy_

"What does it say?" Takato asked.

"Daemon's escaped the Dark Ocean, the others need me to come back, and they've been searching for me, except…I don't know how to go home."

"Don't worry about it, Ken. We'll leave straight away tomorrow," Takato said. "We just have to tell our teacher Ms. Asaji and let Yamaki know what's going on."

"Okay," Ken said.

"It'll be just like old times!" Ryo laughed. "Nobody's gonna be able to beat us, Ken. I wonder if the others remember me."

"They do, Ryo. And they've had you declared dead," Ken said. Ryo was shocked.

"Dead? They declared me dead?" Ryo asked, stunned.

"Well, you haven't exactly been present for three years," Ken said.

"I know, it's just…when I defeated ZeedMillenniummon, my partner Monodramon, forced a DNA Digivolution between himself and ZeedMillenniummon, that's why I had to stay in this dimension, so I could control him. It was too dangerous to take him anywhere else."

"Is that why Cyberdramon growls constantly and attacks whatever moves? Because of Millenniummon?" Henry asked.

"Yes," Ryo said. "It's kinda scary because, Millenniummon was supposed to be my partner."

"Yeah, I know, I've played the games," Henry said.

"So troops, our plan of action is to go save Ken and Ryo's dimension is to leave at 0-600 hours tomorrow, with the permission of our teachers, parents and Yamaki, it's time to go save the world…again!"

Takato stood up and held his D-Power high. "On to the Digital World!"

Everyone raised their hand up, holding their D-Powers up beside him. Ken even joined in, holding his D-3. "Yeah!" they all shouted. Ken smiled; he couldn't wait to go home.


End file.
